Dress comb



P 17, 1957 H. D. THOMPSON 2,806,476

DRESS COMB Filed May 6, 1954 BY v ' A from/5Y3 INVENTOR. HAZZE 0. mar/ s0 United States Patent DRESS COMB Hazle D. Thompson, Lowell, Mass.

Application May 6, 1954, Serial No. 427,898

8 Claims. (Cl. 132-458) This invention relates to dress combs having teeth shaped to prevent displacement of the comb from the hair of the wearer.

Such combs have heretofore been proposed and have incorporated teeth of various shapes intended to permit insertion into the hair but designed to clamp around, or project around, a group of hair strands to prevent easy or accidental withdrawal. I am aware that laterally movable sets of teeth have been suggested for this purpose as well as teeth having lateral projections of curved or angular form, teeth having a single barb on one side edge only and teeth having a single pair of barbs thereon capable of being retracted for withdrawal. In addition, combs having resilient teeth of bowed form are now used for dress combs, the hair being held between the surfaces of adjacent bowed teeth by the spring pressure thereof.

The object of this invention is to provide a comb having no moving parts and no spring clamping function but which by the novel shape of its teeth alone will permit insertion and removal thereof while preventing accidental displacement in a rearward direction.

Another object of the invention is to provide a dress comb made of a single piece of material such as plastic and having integral lateral projections on each tooth capable of preventing rearward movement but permitting easy forward movement.

A further object of the invention is to provide a comb having integral, sharp pointed, backward raking teeth whereby the comb may be pushed forwardly and upwardly into the hair without appreciable resistance, maybe removed by a rotatory movement of the teeth away from the head but will not fall rearwardlyand downwardly out of the hair.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a one piece dress comb having a plurality of pairs of backward raking barbs on each tooth, the pairs of barbs on each tooth being preferably separated by a straight shank or shaft portion and the barbs on adjacent teeth being separated by a comparatively wide channel. Thus rather than actually spring clamping on the hair or inescapably trapping strands of hair, the comb of this invention relies on a multiplicity of barriers or bafiles to retard the withdrawal of the comb in a rearward direction.

A still further object of the invention is to provide a dress comb especially designed to control the scolding locks of the wearer, these being the locks of hair at the nape of the neck, the comb being curved to conform to the shape of the head and capable of gathering and retaining such locks when slid upwardly along the nape of the neck out of sight into the hair of the wearer.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the claims, from the description of the drawings, and from the drawing illustrating the preferred embodiments thereof.

Fig. 1 is a front view of the preferred form of the comb.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary front view of a modified form of the invention.

Fig. 3 is an end view, in section on line 3-3, of the comb shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 4 is a plan view of the comb shown in Fig. 1.

The preferred form of the invention is illustrated in Figs. 1, 3 and 4 wherein the comb A includes a one piece body 20 having a back 21, a pair of end teeth 22 and 23- and a plurality of identical intermediate teeth such as 24,

25 and 26. Each intermediate tooth such as 24 is provided with a plurality of pairs such as 27 or 28, of backward raking barbs such as 30, 31 and 32, 33 projectinglaterally from opposite sides of the tooth. The terminal pair 27 of oppositely disposed barbs 30, 31 on each tooth such as 24 includes a forward point or apex 34 and a pair of rearward points 35 and 36. The remaining pairs of barbs such as 28 on each tooth do not have a forward point or apex since they merge into the shank of the tooth, as at 37 but their rearward points, such as at 38 and 39,

are well defined and identical in shape to those of the tip or terminal pair. An elongated straight shaft or shank portion such as 41, 42, 43 and 44 on each toothsuch as- 26 separates the various pairs of barbs from each other and from the back 21 of the body 20. The upper, or forward face 45 of each backward raking barb such as 30, 31, 32 or 33 is concave curved and the under, or

rearward, face 46 of each barb rakes backward in a con-- vex curve.

The end teeth such as 22 and 23 are similarly formed on the inside edge thereof and provided with a pluralityreceive a group of hair strands without resistance or clamping action. The channel 49 is enlarged in width as at 52 and 53 to provide trap areas in rear of the back-I ward raking convex undersurfaces 46 of each barb capable.

of accommodating such strands of hair and permitting the hair to move over into the path of the comb to prevent easy withdrawal in a rearward direction. In view of the multiplicity of the barbs and the spaces therebetween oneach tooth the comb tends to remain in place without in any way harming the hair. To remove the comb it is only necessary to rotate the toothed portion of the body 20 away from the scalp of the wearer on an axis of rotation formed by the back 21 while continuing the advance of the comb through and out of the hair. The comb can of course be withdrawn backwardly out of the hair by careful manipulation but will not fall out accidentally from its position in frictional engagement with the hair accommodated in the enlarged channel areas 52 and 53. Because the barbs rake backwardly as at .6, it is possible for the strands of hair to move laterally into the recesses formed thereby and to then resist the sliding rearward movement of the comb until the comb is further advanced in an outward are away from the scalp for removal purposes.

A modification of the invention is shown in Fig. 2 wherein the comb B includes a one piece body 64), back 61, end teeth such as 62 and intermediate teeth 64, 65 and 66. Each tooth such as 64, 65, 66 is provided with longitudinally spaced, laterally extending pairs of backward raking, barbs, while the end teeth are similarly barbed on the inside edges thereof. The pairs of barbs 67 and 6S and the barbs 69 on the end teeth are provided with fiat upper, or forward, faces 70 and fiat lower, or rearward, faces '71 rather than curved surfaces as in the preferred form of Fig. 1. There is no straight shank portion between the pairs of barbs, and the fiat faces 70 intersect directly with Patented Sept. 17, 1957 3 hefaces71. Thus each barb outlines abroad based triangle and each triangle touches the next succeeding triangle.

It Will-be apparent that the combs shown in the drawing may be also modified within the scopeof the invention as to the relative sizeof the barbs and the teeth. The barbs may be of the same general outline. but much smaller than shown and multiplied on the teeth to a greater extent, but it is preferred that they be large enough-to .be.

readily formed from-a single piece of material by a single operationsuch as stamping or molding, without excessivei-cost. By using a plurality of backward raking barbs on each tooth, facing in both direction laterally, a multiplicityof areas are formed between the teeth to engage.

the hair of a wearer regardless of its natural direction of curl'and regardless of the fineness, coarseness or abundance of the hair.

Theterm barb is usedherein. to mean one of the integral points projecting rearwardly from the tip or from the, shankv of an elongated element of substantially rigid material. Preferably all of the. rearwardly projecting barbs on. the teeth of the comb of this invention are aligned in rows of single straight, or curved, lines across thepjcomb as showncentrally of Fig. 1. However, at the outer extremities of the comb proximate. the end teeth the main body of the pairs of barbs may be so aligned whilethe tips of the barbs are in progressively increasing misalignment.

I claim:

1. A dress comb comprising a one piece body having a back; a pair of end teeth and a plurality of intermediate teeth extending frorn said back; all of said intermediate teeth being of uniform thickness and having oppositely disposed, backward raking, barbs spaced along each opposite side edgethereof and said end teeth having identically. shaped barbs on thev inside edge thereof.

2. A dress comb comprising a one piece body having aback, a pair of end teeth and a plurality of intermediate teeth, extending from said back, a plurality of pairs of identical, backward raking barbs spaced along the full length of each intermediate tooth, each barb of each pair-projecting laterally from a side edge of atooth opposite the other barb of the pair and'beingequal in thickness thereto and the pairs of barbs on each tooth being aligned across the comb with identical pairs of barbs on the other intermediate teeth thereof.

3. A comb asspecir'ied in claim 2 plus a plurality of identical barbs projecting inwardly and spaced along the inside edge of each of saidend teeth equal in thickness and similar in position to the barbs on said intermediate teeth.

4. A comb as specified in claim 2 wherein each backward raking barb is formed by a concave curved upper surface facing the tip of the comb teeth and a convex curved under surface, facing the back of the comb.

5 A comb as specified in claim 2 wherein the barbs on each adjacent pair of teeth on said comb are laterally spaced from each other a uniform amount and mutually define a longitudinally extending open channel for the unobstructed entrance of groups of strands of human hair.

6. A comb as specified in claim 2 wherein each said barb converges from an inner end proximate the longitudinal centre line of the tooth to a free pointed outer end.

7. A dress comb comprising a unitary body having a back; end teeth and a plurality of intermediate teeth of flattened cross section extending forwardly from said back and at least two pairs of oppositely disposed, laterally extending, backward, raking barbs longitudinally spaced a uniform distance apart on each saidv intermediate tooth.

8. A comb as specified in claim 7 whereineach said barb includes aconcave forward face and a convex rearward face which intersect each other at tl e outer end thereof.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS D 44,447 McCarthy Aug. 5, 1913 565,207 Hock M. Aug. 4, 1896 751,426 Zwick Feb. 2, 1904 842,733 Watson Jan. 29, 1907 1,253,161 Evans Jan. 8, 1918 1,337,039 Bruder Apr. 13, 1920 1,495,360 Rowe May 27, 1924 1,517,334 Young Dec. 2, 1924 1,671,094 Widdows May 22, 1928 1,841,751 McBride Jan. 19, 1932 2,437,502 Butler Mar. 9, 1948 2,574,891 Sawyer Nov. 13, 1951 FOREIGN PATENTS 5,927 Great Britain Mar. 11, 1909 180,537 Germany Jan. 25, 1907 322,564 Germany July 3, 1920 

